How to Make Real Money Playing Video Games

It’s every little kid’s dream: getting someone to pay you to play the games you already enjoy. And like most dreams, the reality is somewhat underwhelming. A career as a game tester boils down to being an elaborate quality control worker. But there are other ways you can make extra money by gaming at home. Here are a few.

Trade In-Game Items for Cash

In just about any multiplayer online game, the best gear and weaponry is also the hardest to obtain. And while you might have the kind of disposable time it takes to sink 200 hours into dungeon crawling, raiding, or randomized loot drops, not everyone does. That’s why some of the rarest items in games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive sell for real money on third-party marketplaces. (They’re sold in-game for Steam Wallet credit, too, but those funds can’t be exchanged for real-world cash.)

CS:GO skins are probably the most lucrative item market in the world at the moment, at lest among games that explicitly allow and enable their in-game loot to be sold outside the game interface. DOTA 2, another game that relies on Steam’s item trading system, has a similar economy. Players can link their digital inventories with an online sale site like Loot Market, post a price for their item just like it was a real object, and get paid in real-world credit via PayPal, Bitcoin, Steam Wallet credit, or even real bank transfers. Everquest 2, a long-running MMO, allows buying and selling of in-game items for real money in select areas only, with a cut of each transaction going to the developer.